Economics

Steven A. Tananbaum Senior Fellow for International Economics Robert Kahn argues that markets have absorbed the initial economic shock from Brexit, but navigating the new landscape will remain a challenge. Two months after the vote, the politics of Brexit is producing a lengthy and uncertain renegotiation of Britain’s place in Europe and the world. Such extended uncertainty is likely to produce a long-lasting drag on both UK and European economies, which could ultimately threaten the viability of the European Union (EU).

Jane Nelson and Sarah Thorn will discussstrategies to grow women’s entrepreneurship worldwide, with a particular emphasis on the role of the private sector. They will address the importance of public-private partnerships to train female entrepreneurs and facilitate the integration of women-owned businesses into global supply chains. This meeting is part of a high-level series on women and development, generously sponsored by the ExxonMobil Foundation.

U.S. President Barack Obama has promised to continue his push for Congress to approve the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), despite firm opposition to the free trade agreement from both of the major candidates for president, including his former secretary of state, Hillary Clinton. “Right now, I’m the president and I think I’ve got the better argument,” he told reporters following a meeting Tuesday with Singapore’s prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong.

CFR Senior Fellow Edward Alden and EXIM Bank Chairman and President Fred Hochberg discuss EXIM’s new global competitiveness report and the challenges facing the United States in global economic competition.

The costs of hosting the Olympics have skyrocketed in recent decades, while the economic benefits are far from clear. This has caused a shrinking of states interested in playing host and a search for options to lighten the burdens of staging the big event.

Steven A. Tananbaum Senior Fellow for International Economics Robert Kahn argues that summer has seemingly brought a new optimism about the Russian economy. Russia’s economic downturn is coming to an end, and markets have outperformed amidst global turbulence. But the coming recovery is likely to be tepid, constrained by deficits and poor structural policies, and sanctions will continue to bite. Brexit-related concerns are also likely to weigh on oil prices and demand. All this suggests that Russia’s economy will have a limited capacity to respond to future shocks.

“The challenge for ‘flyover cities’ such as Wichita; Lincoln, Neb.; Des Moines and Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and other places enjoying a tech-led revival is to find ways of ensuring that the benefits of their comebacks spread widely” writes CFR adjunct senior fellow Robert E. Litan.

CFR hosted a workshop to explore how globalized production patterns are evolving, the risks they face, and how companies and countries can improve compliance and resilience across supply chains through new trade standards, legal regimes, and policies.

The core of any deal to address Puerto Rico’s imminent debt default long has been clear: strong fiscal oversight, paired with powerful tools to facilitate a necessary debt restructuring. But oversight should not overreach, and the new restructuring tools should respect the differences created by existing contracts. The legislation (PROMESA) that emerged from the House achieves the needed balance; it needs to pass the Senate quickly.

Speakers discussed the results of the United Kingdom’s referendum on withdrawing from the European Union, including the political and economic consequences and what this will mean for the UK and Europe as a whole.